Office of the Historian

740.0011 E.W./2–145: Telegram

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State

London, February 1, 1945—4 p.m.
[Received February 1—2:10 p.m.]

1107. ReEmbs 844, January 24, 7 p.m.66 Warner67 told us today that British joint chiefs [British Chiefs of Staff?] had decided that Norwegian project in its present form was not feasible at this time and that this opinion had been passed on to Combined Chiefs of Staff. Warner added that British joint chiefs appreciate, however, that it would be very embarrassing for Foreign Office to tell Norwegian Government that transfer of Norwegian forces to Norway is entirely out of the question. Joint chiefs have therefore recommended that consideration be given by Combined Chiefs to ask Norwegians to recast their request in more modest terms.

Winant
  1. Not printed; it stated that the British Foreign Office viewed the Norwegian project sympathetically from a political angle, but referred the project to the British Chiefs of Staff for consideration from the purely military point of view (740.0011 European War/1–2445).↩
  2. Christopher F. A. Warner, head of the Northern Department of the British Foreign Office.↩